More About India

Most
villagers laughed at Niranjan Pradhan, a 38-year-old farmer in India, when he
said he was going to try something different with his rice crop. Catholic
Relief Services teams in his area had described innovative farming methods that
would help villagers grow more rice with the same land, but the techniques
sounded very strange.

Farmer Niranjan Pradhan dramatically reduced his costs and increased his rice yield by more than 50 percent using a system promoted by CRS India's Jeevika Project. Photo by Stephen Cunliffe for CRS

Despite
his neighbors' skepticism, Niranjan decided to try the new method—called System
of Rice Intensification, which uses fewer seeds spaced farther apart—on one of
his farm's 3 acres. "Even if this new idea to increase paddy production
failed, I would still have 2 acres under old paddy techniques," he says. "That
would yield enough rice to ensure I could feed my family."

In
the early stages, it seemed like the skeptics were right. "Initially, my
plot was completely barren; it looked like a wasteland, and this put most
people off experimenting with the new technology," says Niranjan. "But
later, the 8-inch spacing between seedlings and the planting in rows specified by SRI
resulted in a lush green field that generated a 50 percent increase in
production," he says.

Using
traditional rice farming methods, Niranjan would sow around 77 pounds of seed
per acre of rice paddy. With SRI techniques promoted by CRS India's Jeevika project, though, he reduced that to a mere 4.5
pounds. And, not only did SRI increase productivity in Niranjan's field, it reduced
his production costs from $155 to $89 per acre cultivated. He saved even more
money because, with SRI, the farmer does not apply pesticides or chemicals to
the paddies. The increased space between rice plants made his crop considerably
easier to weed, maintain and harvest—further reducing labor costs.

Although
traditional paddy techniques require 145 days of cultivation before harvesting,
SRI takes 120 days. This shorter cultivation period allows farmers to use fields
for a second crop of seasonal vegetables.

Niranjan
threw out some impressive stats: "In 2010, I harvested 9,500 pounds of
rice from my fields. The 2 acres under traditional paddy techniques supplied about
5,500 pounds, while the single acre under SRI produced a whopping 4,000 pounds."
Of the total harvest, Niranjan and his family set aside 3,400 pounds to meet
their annual food requirements. They sold the remaining 6,100 pounds in the
local market.

"SRI
earned me an extra 8,000 rupees [$178] profit this season," Niranjan says.
"I put this money aside to invest in my three daughters' education and for
dowry payments when they get married."

CRS
India's Jeevika project improves food production for vulnerable families in 108
villages across the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
Thousands of impoverished Indian people have more food and can earn a better
living, thanks to the project.

In
recent months, a number of farmers from neighboring villages have visited Niranjan
for advice about SRI. "They saw the results of this new farming method
with their own eyes," Niranjan says. "Now they too want to reap the
rewards of this exciting technology during the coming paddy season."